1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to signage which is directed to informing the public of the nature of accessible facilities. One example in this respect is public restrooms.
Signs designating publicly available areas such as restrooms or the like, have for some time included not only wording indicating the nature of the facility, but also the corresponding international symbol for that facility. Recent legislative enactments, and particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), mandate that signs of this character include a corresponding message in Braille characters defined by raised dots. The Braille message must fully comply with the specifications for Braille characters as to the height of each dot, the spacing between dots, and especially must meet dome shape requirements. All public buildings that accommodate 25 or more persons must be appropriately marked with designating signs that meet the requirements of the Statute, commencing in the summer of 1992. Designating signs include those for elevators, corridors, restrooms and permanent areas.
One important aspect of the invention is to provide a method for producing signage having a raised message-defining image which can be read by sighted individuals as well as a series of raised dots presenting a corresponding encoded message in Braille characters that can be touch deciphered by visually impaired persons. The method allows economical production of the signs while still fully complying with the specifications for Braille characters and at the same time providing readily observable symbols and words that can be easily read by sighted individuals.
An important aspect of the invention is to provide a method of preparing signage that permits changing of the signs at required intervals or when the message depicted is changed, at a much lower cost than is the case when the signs are produced by conventional injection molding processes. Injection molds are very expensive and the equipment to mold items such as signs is also very costly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Signs for public buildings and other publicly accessible facilities have for some time now included both words designating the nature of the room or building, as well as international symbols for the facility. An exemplary sign in this respect bears the words "Men" or "Women", along with the international symbol for a man or woman. In recent years, these signs have also included the international symbol for disabled persons (a stylized representation of a person in a wheelchair) to indicate that the facility has been especially adapted to accommodate disabled individuals.
The recently enacted federal legislation relating to disabled persons requires that signs of this type also include a corresponding message in Braille characters. However, the indicia in Braille must fully comply with long established specifications for Braille symbols. This includes not only the arrangement of the raised dots, but also the size of each dot, the spacing between dots, the height of the dots, and the overall configuration of each dot including the requisite dome shape.
In view of the large number of signs now in use which fail to meet the specifications of the ADA, there is a need to supply replacement signs which not only contain written designations as well as international symbols but also have Braille characters so that visually impaired persons can readily determine the nature of a facility. The large number of existing signs which must be replaced to comply with the requirements of the ADA, mandates that each sign be as economical as possible.
Many signs used to designate restroom facilities or other publicly accessible rooms or buildings, are simply flat panels, plates or printed paper panels. If of relatively recent vintage, most of these signs incorporate international symbols as well as printed words.
However, these prior signs do not readily lend themselves to refurbishment in order to include Braille characters. In the case of printed or silk screened signs, it simply is not possible to provide the raised Braille message-defining dots using silk screen or printing technology.
Engraved metal signs cannot be converted to define Braille characters, because of the need to provide raised dots which present the Braille letters and numbers. In like manner, signs made of synthetic resin materials, even when the signs are reinforced with glass fibers, cannot economically be updated to include raised dots, because of the impracticality of engrafting Braille-defining dots on the surface of the synthetic resin sign. The same problems are presented when there is a need to change the Braille characters because of revision of the sign.
In view of the compliance time constraints of the ADA, it is imperative that economical signs be made available at the earliest possible date so that the proprietor of buildings which are accessible to the public are not cited for violation of the Act and subjected to the penalty provisions of that legislation.
Use of resin-receiving injection molding molds to prepare signs is not usually a practical solution to the problem of producing designating signs because the molds are very expensive, it is time consuming to prepare the molds, the cost of the molds requires long runs of the same sign to justify the expense, and it is difficult to assure that the resin will flow into all cavities of the mold, and particularly the indentations defining the raised Braille dots, which as noted must be of dome shaped configuration.